The representation of emotional states in literary discourse: morphology of fear in the story “The Life of Vasily Fiveysky” by L. Andreyev

The paper discusses the emotional state of fear by a case study of the story “The Life of Vasily Fiveysky” by L. Andreyev. The keen interest in and the lack of knowledge of this phenomenon are the reason for studying fear not only in purely clinical and psychological practice but also in literary discourse. The works of Leonid Andreyev due to the personal characteristics of the author and his creative preferences (propensity for all kinds of psychological experiments) provide a wide range of materials for consideration of various mental phenomena. The theme of challenges and moral feat that is typical for everyday literature has been qualitatively changed in the story “The Life of Vasily Fiveysky” by L. Andreyev, as the very existence of heroes is fatally predetermined. This generates their existential fear of life, the impossibility to fulfill themselves and fulfill, as they think, their destiny. The research on the above-mentioned phenomenon allows one to reveal the external symptoms and the deep mechanism of the impact of this experience on the person and determine its effects in a vivid artistic form as well. The study of emotions in literary discourse makes it possible to identify the original artistic psychology of individual authors and realize the structure of emotional states.